Former News International CEO Rebekah Brooks and her husband are 'overjoyed' at becoming parents to a baby girl by a surrogate mother.

David Wilson, a spokesman for Brooks, said that both the baby and the surrogate mother are "perfectly well" despite a "difficult" pregnancy. "Both Rebekah and Charlie Brooks are obviously overjoyed and will forever be grateful to the surrogate for bringing her into the world. It has not been a pregnancy without

difficulties. They lost a baby very early on," The Telegraph quoted Wilson, as saying. "It has been a difficult pregnancy and obviously all parties are now absolutely overjoyed that she has now arrived," he added. The surrogate mother, who has declined to be identified, delivered the baby, who has been named Scarlett Anne Mary.

According to the paper, the couple had been trying to start a family for more than five years, ago had been consulting fertility experts for over two years. "Both parents are acutely aware of the infertility problems encountered by many other couples," the paper quoted Wilson, as saying.

"In the longer term, they hope to recognise their good fortune by working in some way to help other couples facing similar challenges," he adde